Introducing Dr. Bhatt
Dr. Ashish Bhatt, MD, MRO is a leading addiction medicine specialist, physician, and psychiatrist. His partnership as Addiction Center’s medical content director aims to provide those in need with the best and most accurate information on substance use disorders, mental health disorders, and treatment.
Transcript
Hi, this is Dr. Bhatt with Straight Talk With The Doc. I want to take a few moments today to talk a little bit about myself and why I entered addiction medicine and behavioral health treatment.
I am a medical doctor and I am a physician. I have been practicing for 22 years. I am board certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. As well as, board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in adult psychiatry, as well as, child and adolescent psychiatry.
I entered this field 30 years ago. I started seeing people who were suffering with mental health conditions and I didn’t feel like they were getting adequate treatment. I’m not saying that one person can make a huge difference, but definitely one person can make a difference on an individual level everyday.
I started pursuing a career where I felt a holistic approach, examining patients at multiple cross sections of time, was the right way to look at people as symptoms present at different times often while and while not using drugs. It’s important, at least at this point, when people who are suffering with addiction issues, as well as primary mental health issues, that multiple cross sections of a person’s life are analyzed. People who suffer with substance use issues, they often can mimic primary mental health conditions and that can be, or lead to, an erroneous diagnosis.
Similarly, many people who are diagnosed with mental health conditions can often look like they are on some sort of substance. So, an ecological holistic approach is necessary in order to get an accurate diagnosis that would, ultimately, lead to accurate treatment.
When looking for treatment and resources, please ensure that people are taking time. Taking time to assess you, not just while you’re under the influence or while your loved one is using, but also to elicit symptoms while they were not on substances or while they were substance free. Because it is important, in order to render proper treatment, that you get an accurate diagnosis.
There is information available on AddictionCenter.com. As the Medical Content Director, my collaboration with AddictionCenter.com is intended to provide the best quality education, scientific, and addiction medicine information that we can, in order for you to get the best help possible.
